Jason Allen’s aptly-titled album The Twilight Zone transports the listener back to the late ‘50s, when Southwestern rock and Lone Star country fused into a compelling whole. This Texas-based singer/songwriter viscerally connects with the steaminess and gloom of classic rockabilly. “Lost,” “I Can’t Let You Go” and the title brood and obsess over troubled love affairs, spurred on with some of the most deeply twanging guitars this side of Duane Eddy. Allen is also quite adept at upbeat fare, applying his winning tenor to such girl-crazy romps as “Jenny Lee,” “Elvis Tonight,” and the swing-slanted “Dance With Me Baby.” Tex-Mex violins lend a border cantina mood to “I Can’t Hide This Heartache,” while “You Make My World Go ‘Round” has the affable tone of an early George Strait hit. The album’s oddest track, a country shuffle remake of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” is also one of its best — Allen approaches the tune as if it were a honky-tonk standard. The Twilight Zone is an unpretentious gem that can’t help but raise a smile. May Allen keep making music in a zone all his own.